Diablo 3 loses companion pets and 'Scrolls of Reforging'

Diablo 3 has already seen sweeping changes throughout its life in beta, but Blizzard isn't shy about making more changes in its quest to perfect the next game in its famed series.

Diablo III has already seen sweeping changes throughout its life in beta, but Blizzard isn't shy about making more changes in its quest to perfect the next game in its famed series.

New changes coming to the current version of the game were announced earlier today, which cut companion scrolls and scrolls of reforging. The companion scrolls would summon an adorable minion that would run around and loot gold in your name. According to Blizzard community manager Nethaera, the creature's 'adorableness' was only part of the problem: "The companion pets felt like they were mandatory to maximize play efficiency and some of the pets were too cutesy for the gritty, dark world of Sanctuary."

Citing the Scrolls of Reforging as "underdeveloped," Blizzard also decided to kill the parchment, which allowed players to change the properties of an item.

"Neither of those are issues we felt like we could solve without a lot of additional work, and we’re trying to close in on a solid release date for the game, not move further away," Nathaera said.

While these elements were removed because they didn't mesh with the quality level Blizzard was looking to hit, they could return later. Blizzard says that they think companion pets could be, both mechanically and visually, turned into a "much cooler system" while making the intention of the reforging more "meaningful."